


Woodchuck

by itssoverynicetomeetyou



Series: What I'd write for Series 12 [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/F, but there is much angst on the way to being ok again, i mean i'll fix it eventually, just early stages thasmin, just written like a book, like an episode, multi-chapter fic, this will be thasmin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2019-10-13 13:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17488694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itssoverynicetomeetyou/pseuds/itssoverynicetomeetyou
Summary: Team TARDIS arrive on a strange ship, under strange circumstances. Everything seems fine at first until it suddenly isn't. Can they keep the passengers safe and work out what is going wrong? And why does that incessant voice keep saying the same thing?





	1. Planet Barcelona

**Author's Note:**

> Quick note about the series thing. Basically, I have a bunch of ideas in my head that are multi-chapter fics that I see as episodes by themselves. As we have to wait until 2020 (no!) for series 12, I thought I might as well call these fics what I'd write for series 12. Like series 11, most are unrelated to each other, but there are some elements that I'd like to circle back to in later fics. I also want to group them together to make the stories easier to find on the off-chance that you like a fic and want to see if I've written anything else. The series is meant to be like 11 where you can jump on at any point and know what is going on so no need to go back and read the other works if you don't want to (but if you like one, hopefully you'll like the others).
> 
> If anyone has come here from Spiders from Egypt, hello! Wonderful to see you here, I hope you enjoy this fic too.

“Isn’t it your birthday soon Ryan?” Yaz asked as they walked down the street.

“Yeah,” Ryan replied. “But I don’t think I’ll do anything. I’m busy enough as it is.” The two laughed.

“What’s happening? What did I miss?” The Doctor bounced up to them cradling a polystyrene box of chips and curry sauce.

“It’s Ryan’s birthday soon,” Yaz replied, ignoring Ryan’s groan.

“Mmph! Iw wumph hirng-phis!” The Doctor mumbled through a mouthful of chips.

“Come again, Doc?” Graham piped up. The Doctor awkwardly swallowed her mouthful and carefully licked her fingers clean of the curry sauce.

“I love birthdays! Where shall we go?” She ran ahead then span around to walk backwards so that she could still talk to her friends. “I know! The viewing platform at Melipnos Three! The sun there gives off solar flares that react against the planet’s atmosphere, a bit like the Northern Lights here, only in all the colours of the spectrum. It’s beautiful. Mildly toxic to humans, but I can easily give you some breathing masks. They should work fine. Well, I say should, there was this one time where a flare was really strong and the resulting chemical reaction in the atmosphere dissolved all breathing apparatus on the planet-”

“I think we’re ok without that, Doc.” Graham raised his hands. The Doctor shrugged and shoved another handful of chips in her mouth.

“Maybe we should go back and find the person who first invented curry sauce chips, they must have been proper clever. Just think, chips, and curry sauce! Two of the best things in the universe, put together!” She gestured wildly with her arms and some of the sauce slopped out of the container.

“Careful Doctor!” Yaz admonished. She couldn’t help it, Sheffield was her turf as a police officer and the habits of being on duty died hard. To be fair, the Doctor gave a guilty ‘oops’ before brightening up again.

“Barcelona. Not the city, the planet.” Ryan’s eyes went wide. “There’s a whole continent of beach. You like sand, don’t you? We always end up in sandy places.”

“Not exactly our choice, though.” Graham pointed out. By now they had reached the TARDIS and the Doctor span round to unlock it, jumping gleefully over the threshold.

“I went there once before, have to be careful to avoid myself. Shouldn’t be too hard though, I was a man back then.” She paused. “And particularly drunk, if the gap in my memory is anything to go by.”

She threw a lever and the TARDIS groaned into flight.

“But it’s not even my birthday yet,” Ryan complained.

“No trouble,” the Doctor grinned. “We can easily hop forward a few days. When is it?” Ryan rolled his eyes.

“Tomorrow.” He muttered. The Doctor’s grin grew wider.

“Here we go. Tomorrow on the planet Barcelona!”

The lights in the console room turned red, and the TARDIS blared all the claxons she could find.


	2. Chapter 2

“Welcome, new passenger, to the TS-573/Apple, affectionately known to her crew as ‘Woodchuck’ due to the striking brown colouration of the metal on the outside.” A friendly female voice chirped as they exited the TARDIS.

“Ah, did someone say something? I can’t hear anything over this ringing.” Graham complained. Yaz looked around the corridor they had landed in. Thickly carpeted with flock wallpaper, wherever they were seemed to be really upmarket, and strangely undamaged given the alarms from the TARDIS.

“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” She asked. The Doctor frowned and poked her head back inside the TARDIS. A loud bell sounded and she hurriedly retreated.

“The TARDIS seems very sure, there’s something really wrong here.” She pulled out her sonic and started to scan their surroundings.

“Woah. Guys, look at this.” Ryan gestured for the others to join him at a small window. Outside was a beautiful cascade of coloured gas and light, shimmering like flames.

“It ain’t planet Barcelona, but I’ll take it.” Graham said, awe clear in his voice.

“It looks like some sort of nebula,” Yaz said, looking to the Doctor. She flicked her wrist to read the results from the sonic and frowned.

“I don’t know what it is Yaz. I can’t figure any of this out.” The four of them jumped at the sudden swell of music as someone opened a door at the end of the corridor.

“Who’d have a party and send out a distress signal?” Ryan asked, before turning to the Doctor. “Can we have a look? Please? It is my birthday, after all.” The Doctor frowned then shrugged.

“We have to find out what’s going on. Might as well start with the people in there.” Despite the apparent danger, the three humans smiled. Who didn’t enjoy a party?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> crumbs this really is a short chapter  
> my excuse is i'm trying to finish Spiders from Egypt and make a good ending before I really throw myself into this fic. Technically I should probably wait until I've finished one before I start another but these plot bunnies won't leave me alone!


	3. Chapter 3

“Look at all the suits,” Ryan said, looking down at his mucky jeans and trainers.

“No-one will mind, Ryan.” The Doctor assured him. “I’ve seen plenty of places like this across the universe. You can wear whatever you want.” She grinned. “I’d forgotten how much I like them.”

“I wondered where your fashion sense came from.” Graham remarked. “Now I think I get the picture.” The room was full of lots of people, mostly human but not exclusively. They were all wearing different garments showing off their status. It was easy to spot the richest ones as they were positively dripping in jewels. Most, however, where in more simple, yet still smart, clothes. Clothes that didn’t quite match and seemed haphazard. Yaz loved all of it. Graham was right, she could definitely see the Doctor’s fashion sense was shared in the room.

“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” a tall lady dressed head to toe in dark purple and glittering with jewels everywhere they would fit sashayed over to them, her piercing voice cutting through the hubbub. “Lady Tabitha, second in line to the throne of Raxacon Nine.” She offered her hand for Graham to kiss and he awkwardly brushed his lips over her velvet gloves.

“Hi Tabatha, I’m the Doctor.” The Doctor grasped her hand firmly and shook it. “And these are my friends Graham, Ryan, and Yaz.” She pointed at each of them as she said their names, ignoring the offended huffs from the other end of her handshake.

“ _Lady_ Tabitha, charmed, I’m sure.” She pulled her hand free from the Doctor’s and held it out to Ryan. Ryan was aware of the Doctor watching him carefully and decided to take a gamble, grasping her hand to shake it.

“Lovely to meet you, Tabitha.” The Lady’s eyebrows shot up at the insolence.

“I don’t believe in titles,” the Doctor explained, not giving the Lady a chance to voice her offence. “What’s going on?”

“Surely you know?” Lady Tabitha laughed in polite confusion. The three looked back at her blankly.

“Tonight is the anniversary of _Woodchuck’s_ first voyage. My husband is more into the precise details, but I thought it would be nice to throw a little shindig to celebrate, invite all the guests on board. Where abouts are you staying?” The Doctor rolled her eyes at her companions as she patted her pockets before pulling out her psychic paper. The Lady’s eyebrows shot up once more as she returned the paper.

“I beg your pardon, Doctor. I had no idea. Enjoy the party.” She swept off and quickly became engaged in another conversation on the other side of the room.

“What was that?” Yaz asked. The Doctor smiled and handed her the worn leather case.

“Psychic paper. It shows people whatever I need them to see. In this case,” she peered over Yaz’s shoulder at the spidery writing that covered the paper. “It looks like we’re all guests in the Royal Suite.”

A small ball of hair, netting and feathers barrelled into Ryan’s leg, pushing him off balance.

“Oi! Watch it!” He shouted as he stumbled upright. Hair was pushed out of the way to reveal a small face, eyes brimming with tears. Yaz nudged Ryan forward and he looked at her, confused.

“Go on,” she mouthed. Ryan gulped and turned round to see tears beginning to spill down the child’s face. Her bottom lip was quivering, a tell-tale sign of the oncoming tantrum.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud.” Ryan started, but the lip only quivered more ferociously. Panicking, he squatted down to her level and gave a tentative smile. “Please don’t cry. I say silly things sometimes.” He wavered, unsure what to say next. “Uh, my name’s Ryan. What’s yours?” The little girl sniffed.

“Hilya.” Ryan gave an encouraging smile and reached out to shake her hand.

“Nice to meet you Hilya.” She giggled at the handshake. “I like your dress.” Hilya smiled proudly.

“My mummy made it.”

“Did she? She’s very clever.” Ryan looked around the room, trying to spot Hilya’s mum. “Where is she, Hilya? I’m sure she wouldn’t want you running around.” Hilya’s smiled slipped from her face.

“Mummy got called away to work. I wanted to play with the other children but they didn’t want to talk to me.” The Doctor, who had previously been looking around the room for any signs of trouble, snapped her head to the child.

“Why would they do that?” Hilya started a bit at the new person in the conversation and looked to Ryan who gave another smile.

“This is my friend, the Doctor. She can always help.” Hilya dropped her gaze to the floor and fiddled with a loose bit of netting on her dress.

“The other children are guests but I live here because Mummy works here.”

“She works here? And she was called away to work?” The Doctor tried to keep her voice even as she probed the girl for information. “Do you know why?” Hilya shook her head. “Maybe I can ask her. Where does she work?” Hilya pointed to the double doors at the opposite end of the room.

“She works up at the top of the ship.” The Doctor smiled warmly at her.

“Thank you, Hilya. Can I steal Ryan for a bit while we go talk to your mum?” Hilya looked forlorn but nodded her head. Ryan smiled at her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back soon, promise.” Hilya’s face broke into a grin and she skipped off, ignoring Ryan’s plea to be careful.

“Kids, eh?” Graham said with mirth. The Doctor laughed.

“Gods, yes. Wouldn’t be without them, though.” She shook herself from her thoughts. “Let’s get a shift on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey...it's been a while. Life got a bit hectic and I lost my muse for a few weeks, but I posted a one-shot a few days ago and realised how much I was missing writing. Kudos and comments really help - thank you to everyone that has done so far!  
> ANwyay, next chapter will really get things going again! Mwahaha!


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor hurried to the doors at the other end of the room.

“Come on fa- OOF!” She stumbled back from the doors that had refused to open, rubbing her sore nose. She approached the doors again, more cautiously this time. The door didn’t budge. Frowning, she took out her sonic and scanned the panel by the doors, trying to find the problem. Before the others had had a chance to react, she’d pried off the panel and pulled out some of the wires.

“Don’t understand it,” she muttered. “All of the doors are set to open when they detect-”

“Um, Doctor,” Yaz said, her eyes fixed on the doors. Or rather, the view through the windows in the doors.

“Hang on a sec Yaz, I’ve nearly got it open.”

“Doctor, I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” Yaz gripped the Doctor’s coat and pulled her gently away from the wall. The Doctor gave a surprised squeak, then looked at Yaz in confusion. When Yaz didn’t look back at her, she turned to see what her friend was looking at.

Outside the doors was a corridor, much the same as the one they’d landed in on the other side of the room. In the middle of it, a rose floated forlornly, slowly spinning end over end as if searching for the lapel it had been separated from. The Doctor gulped, silently cursing herself for not checking beyond the doors. Of course they hadn’t opened for a reason. It scared her how easily she’d forgotten the TARDIS’s warnings, how easily she could have killed them all. Squashing down her feelings she plastered a smile on her face. It felt wrong. Fake. She let it drop and imagined the smile falling like a stone to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces.

The Doctor pulled out her sonic and buzzed the door.

“I’ve set it to a deadlock seal. Nothing will open those doors now. Should keep everyone safe.” She turned back to her fam, the smile on her face feeling a little less forced. “Let’s try the other way.”

As they crossed the room a small hand pushed itself into Ryan’s.

“Are you not going now?” Hilya asked. Ryan turned to her and crouched down to her level.

“We are, but-” he broke off when he caught the Doctor’s warning shake of the head. “We, er, forgot something. We have to go back to get it.” Hilya’s face fell and she looked down despondently. “I’ll come back and see you when we’re done, ok?” His heart warmed at the toothy smile he got in response. As Hilya skipped away, Yaz nudged his shoulder.

“Well done. You’re getting better at this.” She smiled at him.

“The Doctor carefully scanned the corridor beyond before going anywhere near the doors this time. Yep, still oxygen. And gravity. She cautioned her friends to stay back as the opened the doors though, just in case.

Nothing happened when she stepped through. She bounced up and down a few times and stuck her tongue out to taste the air.

“Twenty-three percent oxygen. A little on the high side, but not too bad.” She grinned back at her fam. “Means we can run more.” Yaz frowned and stepped out into the corridor.

“What good will that do? We need to get to the other end of the ship.” She nodded her head behind her.

“Oh Yaz. Yaz Yaz Yaz Yaz Yaz!” The Doctor ran to the TARDIS and drummed her hands dramatically on the doors. “You’re forgetting,” she winked. Yaz tried to stifle the involuntary squeak that came out.

“I have a spaceship.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote most of this yesterday after I posted chapter 3, my muse had bitten me! Not guaranteeing an update every day, but I'm definitely going to try at few times a week.  
> What do you think so far? What do you think is wrong with the ship?  
> How many more involuntary squeaks will Yaz make? (I'm voting lots)


	5. Chapter 5

All hell broke loose as the TARDIS faded into view. Crew members were climbing over each other, clamouring for the few weapons that were kept on the bridge. Others were frantically trying to escape through the doors at the back of the room shouting at each other as they tried to squeeze past the large blue box that had materialised in front of them.

The four exited the TARDIS and were met with five crew members pointing various weapons at them, all shouting at the same time. Yaz, Ryan and Graham pulled up short, raising their hands in surrender. The Doctor, however, stalked past them like they didn’t even exist. She strode over to the chair in the middle of the room and stepped up onto it.

“Fingers on lips!” The Doctor shouted. Abruptly, the din ceased as everyone followed her order. She glanced back at her fam with raised eyebrows and they awkwardly put their fingers on their lips as well.

“Now,” the Doctor continued in a quieter voice as she stepped down from the chair and walked to the nearest person holding a weapon. “What’s going on?” The crew member sputtered but didn’t manage to get any words out before a large man stepped out from behind the TARDIS.

“How dare you come onto the bridge without my permission and order my crew around!” He crossed the room and stood toe to toe with the Doctor, red in the face. She didn’t even blink, just looked back at him evenly. “What have you got to say for yourself?” The Doctor’s gaze flicked to the epaulettes on his shoulder then back to his face.

“A captain has a duty to the safety of their ship and everyone on board. Now, tell me what’s going on and I can help.”

“That…thing appeared out of thin air and the four of you came onto my bridge without permission!” Flecks of spittle formed around his mouth as he gestured at the TARDIS.

“That ‘thing’ you’re pointing at is my ship, and she’s not a thing. Also, you’re missing out something important. Tell me what’s going on.” One of the crew members holding a weapon spoke up, her hand slowly coming to rest by her side as she did so.

“Nothing else has happened. Your arrival is the most interesting thing to happen all voyage.” The captain shot her a look but she ignored him and put her weapon down.

“Is this ship in danger?” She asked.

“My ship picked up a distress call from you.” The Doctor started to walk around the bridge. “I was hoping you’d know what was wrong.” She started poking and fiddling at various displays before finally resorting to her sonic, thoroughly scanning all the equipment in the room. The crew member that had already put her weapon down nodded at her colleagues and they also put their weapons down, ignoring the angry shouts of their captain.

“Are any of you Hilya’s mum?” Ryan asked. The crew member from before frowned and shook her head.

“Evelyn is with Hilya getting ready for the party. I’m covering her shift so she can have the whole day off. She isn’t due back up here until tomorrow morning.” The Doctor stopped scanning and walked over to her.

“We’ve just come from the party, it’s in full swing, _and_ we saw Hilya there. She said her mum had been called back to work.” She frowned. “What’s your name?”

“Marza.” The Doctor consciously softened her face into what she hoped was an encouraging smile.

“What do you do here, Marza?”

“I’m an engineer. I work with Evelyn and Dave to keep the engines working.”

“Best engineer I’ve ever had. Fixes problems before they even happen.” The captain blurted, trying to save face from earlier. Yaz fixed him with her best withering stare and he hurriedly closed his mouth again. A flash of worry crossed Marza’s face and she reached for the com-dot on her neck.

“Dave? Check the coolant system on block three.”

“On it, boss,” crackled a response. The Doctor scrunched her nose and leant towards Marza, inspecting her carefully.

“She does that sometimes.” Yaz reassured her after seeing Marza’s worried face. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite.”

An alarm blared and the crew forgot their new companions, all rushing to their stations to fix the problem.

“Atmosphere – safe.”

“Gravity – safe.”

“Hull – safe.”

“Error,” the voice that had spoken when the four left the TARDIS when they had first arrived came from speakers up in the ceiling. “Failure in coolant system on block two. All doors to that area have been sealed for safety.” The Doctor’s eyes flicked to Marza’s.

“You knew that was going to happen.” Marza was too shocked by the accusation to do anything but nod. The Doctor raised her hands to Marza’s temples. “May I?” Again, she nodded. The Doctor closed her eyes and tilted her head back a little, a tiny smile gracing her lips. Yaz tried not to stare.

With a sharp intake of breath, the Doctor dropped her hands and opened her eyes.

“You’re brilliant,” she breathed, the smile spreading out to a grin. “Mild psychic ability and you use it to fix things.”

“You knew that was going to happen?” The captain shouted, rounding on his engineer. “Why did you send Dave to the wrong place? It’s your job to send him to the right place!” Marza looked back at him coldly.

“I won’t send someone to their death, sir.”

“How are we meant to go anywhere without block two?”

“Block four is an adequate backup-”

“Oh come on! We’ll be limping into dock 48 hours late with that. Do you know how much they pay me to keep to schedule? A lot.”

“Dave wouldn’t have been able to fix the problem in the amount of time-”

“Then YOU should have spotted it earlier!”

“Maybe we could help,” the Doctor stepped between the two. “I can go and have a look for you, see if I can fix it up.”

“But the gases in the coolant system are toxic,” Marza protested.

“I’ve got protection gear in my ship.” The Doctor smiled and ushered her fam back into the TARDIS.

“And the doors are sealed.” The Doctor swung on the doorframe and grinned.

“Now this is a really neat trick.” She held a hand out to Marza. “Coming?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeey, um, late posting I know. The meaning of liff and all that.  
> I'm trying to get the story going now, a lot more set-up was needed this time than there was in Spiders. Hopefully you've not found it too boring/can make it to the next chapter where things will get more interesting!


	6. Chapter 6

The TARDIS doors opened to reveal very little other than thick white smoke.

“Breathing gear on team!” The Doctor called as she bounded out. “Spread out a bit, try to find where the leak is. Don’t go too far though.”

Graham had put his on when they were still in flight so was the next out. Seeing the Doctor head left, he headed right. The breathing apparatus felt heavy on his head and made everything sound a bit tinny, like listening to music through really cheap speakers. He could still make a lot of noise out though. The hiss of multiple leaks from the pipes above him, Ryan yelling out in pain as he stubbed his toe on something, Yaz laughing hard at something the Doctor said.

Bang. Clatter.

Graham whirled to the noise, somewhere in front of him in the smoke.

“Hello?” No response. “Is someone there?” His shouts caught the attention of the others and they came over to him.

“What’s up Graham?” The Doctor asked him, eyeing the smoke suspiciously.

“I heard something like metal pipes being knocked over, but I can’t see anything through this smoke.” He replied.

“It could just be falling pipes.” Marza offered. “There must be a lot of damage for there to be this much smoke.”

The Doctor, who had pulled out her sonic to fiddle with it frantically let out a cry of triumph and pointed it in the general direction of the TARDIS. The TARDIS doors flew open with a thump and loud fans started to drain the room of smoke. Something up ahead caught the Doctor’s attention and she stepped forward towards where Graham had been looking, but didn’t make it far. Marza let out a scream and clutched at her head, falling to her knees. The Doctor whirled back around, wincing in pain.

“What’s wrong, Marza?” Yaz asked, hurrying over to Marza. Marza couldn’t reply, her breath coming in short pants. Yaz looked up to ask the Doctor for help, but she was doubled over, resting her hands on her knees, eyes screwed up in anguish. “Doctor?”

Graham went over to the Doctor and placed a supportive hand on her back, unsure what else he could do. After a few seconds Marza’s breathing evened out and the Doctor gingerly stood up.

“What was all that about?” Ryan asked, concern evident under the bulky breathing apparatus.

“Haa,” the Doctor exhaled. “Not quite sure. Something is really wrong though.”

“How come we wasn’t affected, just you and Marza there?” Graham asked. The Doctor frowned and made her way over to Marza. Gently, she pulled Marza’s breathing gear off.

“Doctor, wait-” Yaz protested but it was too late, the Doctor was removing her own and giving a small smile at her fam.

“The TARDIS cleaned the air; it’s safe to breathe now.”

“Is there nothing that machine can’t do?” Graham wondered, earning himself a stern glare from the Doctor. He apologised quickly and tried to fade into the background to avoid more ire. The Doctor refocused her attention back on Marza.

“I know what I felt but I need to know if you felt it too.” Marza looked at her, confused. “What did it feel like?”

“Painful.” Marza replied. “But just before it, my head…” she waved a hand in front of her face, unable to explain the feeling. “It was like just before I know something will break, but much more intense.” The Doctor nodded.

“So what does that mean? What was it?” Yaz asked.

“Something is messing with time.” The Doctor stood and led everyone back to the TARDIS. “Marza’s psychic ability lets her partially feel the fabric of space-time. She felt the change like I did.”

“But she was crying out in pain, it didn’t affect you as much.” The Doctor stopped and faced Yaz, looking straight into her eyes. Yaz gulped at the intensity of her gaze and tried not to get lost in the swirls of colour that seemed to be ever-changing.

“I can take more pain than most. I’ve had practice.” The bottom fell from Yaz’s stomach and she stood there, stunned. How could anyone ever hurt the wonderful woman before her? The image her brain conjured up of the Doctor chained up, tortured and bleeding…tears sprang to her eyes.

“Let’s get a shift on,” the Doctor said, turning from Yaz and switching her mega-watt personality back on. “There’s a lot more wrong here than just some burst pipes. I want to have another look at that party; there were a lot of big names there that might just have the influence to do something like this.”

“Sounds great Doc, but shouldn’t we look at the crew first? I mean, they’re the ones in charge of the ship and all.” Graham asked. Marza gave a hollow laugh.

“None of the crew could manage anything like this. Most of them are only on the second or third voyage, still learning the controls.” The Doctor ushered them into the TARDIS and closed the doors behind them before rushing to the controls. The TARDIS gave a low moan and the Doctor stroked the console affectionately.

“I know, old girl. I’ll only be quick, I promise.”

“What was that about?” Marza asked.

“It’s the TARDIS,” The Doctor nodded her head towards the console. “She doesn’t like all these short hops.” With that, she threw the lever.

They quickly landed back in the corridor they had originally landed in; the Doctor had carefully piloted them so they didn’t end up in the airless one. The five stepped out of the TARDIS and a friendly female voice chirped at them.

“Welcome, new passenger, to the TS-573/Apple, affectionately known to her crew as ‘Woodchuck’ due to the striking brown colouration of the metal on the outside.”

The Doctor frowned.

“Anyone else got a strange sense of deja-vu?” The others shrugged. They approached the doors to the large party room but Marza winced and held her head again, biting her tongue so she didn’t cry out this time. Yaz immediately glanced at the Doctor; sure enough, a small frown scrunched her features.

“I’ll stay with Marza.” Yaz suddenly volunteered, unable to see the Doctor in pain. “You guys go on ahead, we’ll catch up when she’s feeling better.” The Doctor tried to catch her gaze but Yaz kept her eyes on Marza, not trusting her reaction if she looked at the Doctor again.

“Ok.” She finally said, a softness to her voice that hadn’t been there before. Yaz told herself it was because Marza wasn’t feeling well. “Don’t be long.”

As the Doctor, Ryan and Graham made their way into the large room, a tall lady glittering with jewels caught their attention.

“Ah, just the person I wanted to talk to!” The Doctor exclaimed, marching over to the woman.

“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” she replied, looking confused for a moment. The look didn’t last long, though, and she quickly extended her hand for the Doctor to kiss.

“Lady Tabitha, second in line to the throne of Raxacon Nine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens!!!!  
> Any guesses as to what's going on?


	7. Chapter 7

“Yeah we know, we met before, remember?” Graham said, a little offended at being forgotten. Tabitha gave an awkward smile.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“This is your husband’s party to celebrate this ship’s anniversary of its first voyage. You told us that before, Tabitha.” Ryan joined in. At that, the lady frowned.

“ _Lady_ Tabitha,” she corrected. The Doctor pulled out her sonic and started to scan her, ignoring the shocked look she got in response.

“Something’s going on here, something is wrong Tabitha,” the Doctor finished scanning and looked at the screen but not before clocking the woman’s indignant gasp. “Still don’t believe in titles.” She explained. Frowning, the Doctor scanned Tabitha again.

“I assure you we have all been given the appropriate medical procedures for this voyage.” Tabitha said frostily. The Doctor ignored her and frowned at her sonic.

“Doc?” Graham asked quietly. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” The Doctor hissed back in annoyance, turning her sonic to the general area before letting out a sigh of frustration. “According to my scans, nothing is wrong.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Come on Grandad, the engine blew up! There’s got to be something happening, right?” Ryan spoke a fraction too loudly and Tabitha rounded on him sharply.

“I have not been notified of any incidents, is there something I should be aware of? My husband and I are the most senior ranking of the guests on this voyage, _we_ should be notified first of any problems.” The Doctor rolled her eyes and started rummaging in her pockets for her psychic paper.

Just then, Yaz walked in, one arm around Marza for support. The Doctor felt something in the pit of her stomach. Something unpleasant. She’d never felt that before when she’d seen Yaz. She blinked and filed that train of thought away for later.

Lady Tabitha rounded on Marza with a steely expression.

“Is there a problem with the ship that my husband and I should have been notified about?” Marza blinked at her then looked around the room, clearly confused. Luckily, Tabitha dismissed it as mere incompetence. “I shall call the Captain myself, excuse me.” She sashayed off into the crowd. Marza watched her leave then turned to the Doctor.

“But if the engine-”

“Yes, I know.” The Doctor interrupted. “They should have felt something, a big something. No way would the party still be able to carry on.” She hurried to the other end of the room, the others close behind her. “I need to talk to your Captain right away.”

Graham noticed where they were headed first.

“Doc, wait!” She didn’t stop, only raised her sonic screwdriver towards the doors at the end. “Doc, there’s no oxygen out there, remember?”

“No oxygen?” Marza asked, panic evident in her voice. “That can’t be right, I would know if something like that were to happen.” The Doctor turned to look back at Marza, hunting her for some sort of clue.

“I knew someone once. She was – gods, she was clever. But she couldn’t know everything. She couldn’t understand everything.” The Doctor rested a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not all on you.” Yaz swallowed at the intensity in the Doctor’s voice, even though it wasn’t directed at her. Suddenly, the Doctor snapped out of her sombre mood and was back to business.

“Back to the TARDIS then, gang!” She practically ran the length of the room.

“Auntie Marza!” A young voice cried out and Yaz had to jump to one side to avoid the small ball of hair, netting and feathers that barrelled towards their newest companion. Marza crouched down to speak to the girl and Yaz hesitated, wanting to make sure she was alright.

*****

Ryan knocked a waiter carrying a full tray of drinks as he ran after the Doctor, barely managing to yell out an apology before he was out of the room and into the TARDIS. Heavy footsteps of his Granddad, always the last, clattered to a halt behind him. The Doctor was already spinning around the console to set the coordinates, muttering quietly to herself.

*****

Yaz crouched down next to Marza and smiled at the girl, recognising her from earlier.

“Hilya, isn’t it?” The girl looked at her and took a nervous step backwards.

“Who’re you?” She asked.

“We met earlier, don’t you remember? You were talking to my friend Ryan.” Yaz tried to prompt her. Hilya shrank towards Marza, shaking her head.

Yaz was about to introduce herself when there was a muffled bang and the whole ship started to shake. The crowd around her started screaming and shouting as glasses and bottles started to fall from shelves behind the bar. People were tripping over each other as they rushed to the various exits and various decorations started falling from the walls and smashing onto the floor.

Marza pulled Hilya close to her and Yaz tried to shield them as best she could but hazards were coming from all around. There was another loud bang and a series of screams from the other end of the room but she couldn’t see quite what had happened.

*****

The shaking of the ship also threw the TARDIS around and Ryan and Graham desperately clung to the crystal pillars. The Doctor was still moving round the controls, although far more slowly as she had to keep grabbing hold of it to stop herself from falling over.

“What’s going on?” Graham shouted.

“I don’t know!” The Doctor shouted back, trying to keep the panic from her voice. She hadn’t even put them into flight yet. She thought so, anyway. Reaching over to the lever that threw them into flight she checked that it was up. No, not in flight.

A large jolt made her lose grip with on hand and she instinctively grabbed the closest thing with the other. The flight lever. With a groan, the TARDIS engines started up.

*****

Movement above them caught Yaz’s eye. A large chandelier, large enough to spread over several stories if the architect had so desired, was swaying dangerously to and fro, getting closer to the edge of its hanging hooks every time. Frantically, she dragged Marza and Hilya up and tried to push them to the sides of the room where they’d be safest but Hilya had frozen to the spot. She bent down and scooped Hilya up, depositing her unceremoniously into Marza’s arms and gave her a hefty shove towards the wall.

The precious seconds ticked past. The sways got bigger.

*****

Having got them into flight, the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, the TARDIS was turbulent, but at least this was _expected_ turbulence. She glanced up at her fam to see how they were faring and her hearts skipped a beat. There were only two of them.

Where was Yaz?

*****

Marza could only hold Hilya to her chest and watch as the chandelier unhooked itself and plummeted downwards onto her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, hi everyone.  
> Sorry this hasn't been updated in a while, had a crisis of confidence in my writing. Hopefully this chapter is mildly in character/getting the story across in as much sense as it's meant to whilst still maintaining the air of mystery


	8. Chapter 8

The Doctor sprinted out of the TARDIS before the engines had fully stopped, frantically scanning her surroundings for her friend.

“Yaz!” She called. Her eyes ran over the faces before her but they didn’t register; none of them were her Yaz. Ryan and Graham swiftly joined her, then shrank back towards the TARDIS as they recognised the guns being pointed at them. “YAZ!” The Doctor shouted once more, failing to hide the panic in her voice.

“Er, Doc,” Graham reached out a hand to rest on her arm but movement in the corner of his eye stopped him.

“How dare you come onto the bridge without my permission!” The Captain stepped around the TARDIS and placed himself mere inches away from the Doctor’s face. The only reference to him the Doctor made was to stop calling for Yaz. She didn’t even look at him; her eyes focused on a crew member that both Ryan and Graham recognised.

“Marza?” She asked, stepping around the Captain and walking up to her. Marza shifted the gun in her hand awkwardly.

“I will not be ignored!” The Captain roared, foaming round the edges of his mouth. Ryan and Graham ignored him and followed the Doctor towards Marza.

“Marza, it’s – ah!” The Doctor winced and pressed her hands to her temples. Ryan ran to catch Marza as she pitched forward, her face crumpled in pain. The other crew members holding guns lowered them awkwardly; there had been nothing in their training for situations like this.

“Anything I can do Doc?” Graham asked, awkwardly patting her back. The Doctor sucked the air in through her teeth and stood up again.

“Need to find Yaz.” She strode over to the nearest computer terminal, brushing aside the gun that shakily tried to stop her. The Captain’s roars fell on deaf ears; she had to find Yaz.

Pulling out her sonic she aimed it at the terminal, not even jumping when a loud spark was thrown out at her in protest.

“What are you doing?” Marza asked from beside her. The Doctor glanced at her in surprise; she hadn’t noticed her move.

“Trying to get into your security systems.” The computer beeped. “Aha! Got it!” She peered at the screen, her face falling into a heavy frown.

“What’s wrong?” Marza asked. She had never seen the blonde woman before, but somewhere deep down she felt like she had.

“Nothing.” The Doctor replied slowly. “Absolutely nothing is wrong. That’s…that’s just _wrong_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a little one today, I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing and updating this more regularly so hopefully I'll get the next chapter up in the next couple of days. Good news: it's already half-written!  
> Comments and Kudos are always a joy to read, thank you to all of you who have left them so far!


	9. Chapter 9

 “Welcome, new passenger, to the TS-573/Apple, affectionately known to her crew as ‘Woodchuck’ due to the striking brown colouration of the metal on the outside.” The chirpy voice made Yaz jump as she was pulled into consciousness. She felt weird. Somehow…tingly…all over. Like she had felt after the Doctor had hugged her once, but this was a bad tingly. A painful one.

Stabbing pain in her back made her gasp for breath before she realised it was just a memory. She gingerly felt her back to find her jacket was totally intact. _Hadn’t the chandelier fallen on her?_

She glanced up; the chandelier was hanging perfectly still above her. All around were people laughing and chatting, enjoying the party as if nothing had happened. Not even the tell-tale sweat marks or rumpled clothing that people so often carried when they’d been running. No-one seemed to be paying any attention to her as she made her way to the doors where she’d last seen the Doctor. Her heart plummeted as she looked through the windows and saw nothing but empty corridor. She opened them anyway, just in case the TARDIS had moved out of sight, but it was pointless. No boxes, blue or any other colour, were in the corridor.

Yaz took a deep breath to steady herself. She recognised the panic that was slowly creeping up on her and ran through her mental checklist of things she could do to calm down.

Talk to someone. No-one was around.

Call someone. She felt the lump of her phone in her pocket but there was no way she’d get a signal. She didn’t even know if she was in the right century to be calling her mum. Last thing she wanted to do was accidentally call her mum before she was even born.

Hold the Doctor’s hand. Yaz blinked. That hadn’t been on the checklist before. Then again, she hadn’t needed it since she’d started travelling with her. The Doctor had always been there, making sure they were safe. But it was more than that. The Doctor radiated warmth with her smile, accepted everyone as they were and as utter equals, she-

Yaz cut off that train of thought. She was _married_ for goodness’ sake. Twice over. And yet all Yaz wanted was to see a nose scrunch and a smile.

She walked to the window of the corridor and looked out to try and distract herself. Tumbling gases set the view aflame, reminding Yaz of watching her Nani’s fire when she was little. She could almost see shapes in the flames, as if a thousand people were dancing through the fire.

“YAZ!” She snapped from her reverie, looking around for the oh-so-familiar voice.

“Doctor?”

“Finally found you! Took me ages, had to go through the whole security system checking all the cameras, did you know there are two-thousand five-hundred and seventy-six cameras on this ship? Not nearly enough, there’s far too many blind spots-”

“Doctor, where are you?” Yaz cut off the ramble.

“I’m up on the bridge, I’m looking at you through the camera to your right.” Yaz turned. “Wait no, my right. Up a bit,” the Doctor guided Yaz. “There ya go! Brilliant Yaz!” Even though she couldn’t see her, Yaz could imagine the grin that was covering the Doctor’s face.

“What happened? Where are the others?”

“Ryan and Graham are here with me,” a faint cheer came through as they made their presence known. “As for what happened, um,” luckily, Yaz asked another question before the Doctor had to admit she had no idea.

“Where’s Marza and Hilya? They were with me when-” this time, Yaz cut herself off. Her back was suddenly starting to hurt again and she turned away from the camera to hide the wince.

“How do you know my name?” Marza’s voice came through, more than a little angry. “I’ve never seen any of you before.”

Up on the bridge, the Doctor turned to Marza, finally fully recognising that she was there.

“How are you here?” She breathed. “You were down there with Yaz when we left.” She reached for her sonic then thought better of it, the thing seemed to have developed a fault, and plumped for reaching her hands out to Marza’s temples. Marza gave a start and tried to back away, but something inside her told her to stay still and let the Doctor do what she needed.

“What do you remember?” The Doctor asked, her eyes closed in concentration.

“Nothing,” Marza replied. “I mean, nothing about you or your friends. Today has just been a normal day.” Marza trailed off.

“But?” The Doctor prompted.

“It feels…weird. Wrong.” Marza opened her eyes and stepped back from the Doctor’s touch. “Like I’ve done this before.”

“No offence but your job sounds kinda repetitive.” Ryan piped up only to be silenced by a stern look from Graham.

“Not like that,” Marza said. “I think I’ve done this exact day before, only...different.” Marza’s face was screwed up with effort as she tried to remember.

“Wait a minute,” the Doctor said, her eyes wide.

“Doctor?” Yaz’s voice came through the speakers.

“This ship, it’s called TS Woodchuck, right?” The Doctor asked.

“So the voice keeps telling us,” Graham agreed.

“What does TS mean? What does it stand for?”

“Time Ship,” Marza replied. Out of the corner of her eye the Doctor saw the Captain puff up his chest in pride. She decided to continue to ignore him.

“What’s in Block 2 of the engines?”

“The Time Drive,” Marza replied, “why are you asking?” The Doctor dived for the computer terminal again.

“Sorry Yaz, I’ve got to check something I’ll have to cut you off.” She disappeared in a crackle of static. Yaz opened her mouth to respond but realised it was too late and kept quiet. Not sure quite what else to do, she looked out the window again and hoped that Doctor would talk to her again soon.

The Doctor had whipped out her sonic and aimed it at the screen as soon as she cut Yaz off, uncomfortable about leaving her on her own for too long. The screen now showed a complicated set of diagrams that made Ryan’s head spin, despite his NVQ training. The Doctor traced her finger along one of the lines, frowned, then repeated the motion.

“How did you even get this to work?” She asked no-one in particular. “It’s fundamentally wrong.” At this, Marza frowned.

“How so?”

“See this?” The Doctor pointed at one of the lines, “it goes straight from the navigation part to the engines. You’re missing a relativity module; the Time Drive is doing all the work to get you where you want to go but without a module to correct for the relative time difference between on board this ship and, well, the rest of the universe, you’re leaving all those calculations for the navigation unit which doesn’t have the capacity to do them as well as navigate through normal space. All it would need is something to take out this cable here,” she pointed at a line higher up the screen, “and the time drive would short out, creating…” she trailed off, her eyes wide.

“Creating what Doc?” Graham asked.

“A time loop.” The Doctor replied, her face grave. “We’re stuck in a time loop.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a nice long chapter for you, making up for the short one last time. Hope you're all enjoying!


	10. Chapter 10

“Is that what happened in the explosion then? That cable got broken?” Ryan asked.

“What explosion?” Marza sounded worried.

“There was an explosion in Block 2. Will be an explosion.” Graham corrected himself. “You’d have thought I’d be used to all this time travel malarkey by now, eh?” He tried a joke to lighten the mood but it fell flat.

“I need to go down there,” Marza said. “I have to stop the explosion.”

“Wait!” The Doctor grabbed her arm as she brushed past. “You can’t go down there. The explosion knocked some coolant pipes open, you won’t survive.”

“There hasn’t been an explosion yet. I have to try.” Marza shook herself free but the Doctor ran round to stand in front of her, blocking the path.

“Let me come with you. I’ve got some stuff that might help.” She nodded her head at the TARDIS. Turning her attention to Ryan and Graham, she pointed her sonic at the screen and it showed Yaz again, slightly out of view, but easily recognisable by her space buns. “Stay here,” she instructed them. “And don’t,” she pointed at Ryan. “Don’t press any buttons.” Ryan opened his mouth in indignant response but she’d already turned and led Marza into the TARDIS.

Graham smiled fondly and patted his grandson’s shoulder before turning to the screen.

“Yaz? Can you hear me?”

“Graham! What’s going on up there? Is there anything I can do to help?” Behind Graham, Ryan watched as Marza stumbled out the TARDIS and walked around it.

“It’s perfectly safe, I promise you! It’s just a bit of technology that’s a bit more advanced that’s all!” The Doctor called as she followed her out.

“But it’s impossible!” Marza cried out.

“Eh, you get used to it. There’s definitely weirder stuff in there.” Ryan chimed in, earning a dig in the ribs from Graham. It hadn’t been a helpful comment.

“Graham?” Yaz asked.

“Sorry love, the Doctor’s working on it. You just hang on in there; we’ll come get you as soon as we can.”

BANG

The deck rocked, sparks flying from equipment and singeing flesh to make an arid, cloying smell. Graham scrambled to catch hold of Ryan who was struggling to keep his balance. Over by the TARDIS, the Doctor had one hand clinging to the doors, the other gripping Marza’s arm with grim determination.

Eventually the rocking slowed enough for crew members to get to their stations and start to relay the readings.

“Gravity – safe.”

“Hull – damaged.”

“Atmosphere – leaking through the hull.”

“Warning,” the computer said calmly. “Atmosphere loss in guest areas. Doors will be sealed for your safety.” A dull thud echoed through the ship as hundreds of doors slammed shut.

“Doctor!” Yaz cried, panic evident even through the comms. Instantly, the Doctor pulled Marza’s hand and guided it to the TARDIS doors. She let go herself and half-walked, half-tumbled her way to the screen.

“Yaz, I’m here.” On the screen she could see Yaz leaning against the wall, wind whipping her hair around her face as she struggled to breathe. Her hearts skipped a beat as she realised Yaz was trapped in a section that was losing atmosphere. She span round to the Captain.

“Open those doors.”

“It’s an automated system. We can’t override it.” The Doctor brandished her screwdriver.

“We’ll see about that.”

“Doctor, wait,” Marza called. “The system closes doors to prevent atmosphere loss. If you open them then we’ll lose more atmosphere, and people.” She fought the quaver in her voice as the full force of the time-lord stare was thrown her way.

“Doctor,” Yaz’s voice was weak as she slid down the wall until she was on the floor. The Doctor span round to see her bright, shining super-star Yaz on the floor.

“YAZ!” She shouted, banging the screen as if she could reach out and touch her. No response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hate me. I dare you.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is going to be short, I'm just trying to get back into writing.  
> HOWEVER this is an important bit for the general storyline I'm going for here. So just know I'm doing this for a reason.

Yasmin Khan. The girl with the shining smile and shining future. The girl who wanted to change the world.

The girl she would never see again.

Oh gods.

Another nineteen-year-old who died because of her. She closed her eyes and all she could see was the cheeky smile that was all hers, tip of the tongue poking out. The haze of golden curls that tickled her awake every morning. The wonder and trust that filled her gaze.

_How long are you going to stay with me? Forever._

_You watch us run._

_I’m with you, always._

Somehow everyone had all rolled into one and all she could think was Yaz. Yaz was gone.

“Doc?” A voice cracked into her shell. Someone was talking to her. Someone needed her.

She tried to move. Honestly, she did, but all she managed was to grip the console tighter and pull in a ragged breath.

“Tell me you’re gonna fix this.”

“Ryan, son, not now.”

“But she has to fix it. It’s Yaz.”

_Quite right too._

She was dimly aware of a hand being placed on her back, vaguely felt the warmth it gave in comfort. She felt the familiar poke in her mind of her TARDIS trying to get her attention, but she pushed it away. She just wanted to be alone.

_Doctor, you’re always needed._

She drew another breath, focusing on making it less ragged. The hand on her back moved in a small circle and she drew strength from it. From her fam. People who trusted her and cared for her and that she cared about in return.

She was going to fix this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason for this. THERE'S A REASON FOR THIS
> 
> there's also a reason why this hasn't been tagged as major character death. just trust me a little longer
> 
> doesn't stop my heart form bleeding though. *sniff* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAZ
> 
> did you get all the references? hehe


	12. Chapter 12

Marza watched the trio from where she was standing, next to the strange blue box. They were speaking in hushed tones, but she didn’t need to hear the words to know what was being said. The way the blonde hung her head and sagged into the console was more than enough. The young man tensed his shoulders and Marza readied herself to calm him down if he got too angry, but a look from the older man made him take a breath and relax. They were a strange mismatch of personalities but they were definitely a family.

The blonde straightened up and the other two moved to give her some space, although the younger one looked like he wanted some sort of physical contact. Her lips moved to give some sort of instruction and they nodded and watched as she walked towards Marza.

“I need to get in.” She said, startling Marza with her sombre tone. It was such a contrast to the assertion she’d had before.

“Doc,” the older man called as she stepped inside. “Are you sure?”

The Doctor looked back at Graham and he saw a thousand years’ grief in her eyes.

“I have to do this alone.” She pushed the door to the blue box open and stepped inside, letting it click shut with an air of finality.

Once inside, the Doctor shrugged off her coat. She’d chosen it as a reminder of who she was, who she could be when surrounded by the right people. Now it felt like a lead weight tugging her down. The TARDIS gave a low moan of sympathy and she gently ran her hand along the console before throwing the lever and making the engines roar to life.

*****

The Doctor stepped out into the corridor, the cold air making her breath fog up her breathing mask. Her breaths were loud and heavy in her ears, drowning out any other sounds. Sharp pain stabbed at her temples but she barely noticed as she looked to the window and saw the cascading flames outside; was that the last thing Yaz had seen? What should have been beautiful suddenly looked ugly and she looked away, trying to distract herself from the sour taste in her mouth.

Straight into Yaz’s eyes.

Yaz, her wonderful, beautiful Yaz was sat upright, looking straight at her. The Doctor whipped off her breathing mask and pressed it to Yaz’s face, only to find her pushing it away.

“I can hold my breath longer-” the Doctor stopped herself and stuck out her tongue, tasting the air. 23 percent oxygen; safe to breathe.

“Doctor,” Yaz trailed off, unable to hide the fear on her face. “What happened?” The Doctor pulled her tongue back in and looked at her companion. “You were talking to me over the camera, then there was an explosion and, and the doors locked, and-” The Doctor wrapped her arms around Yaz, not wanting to hear the rest.

“Yaz I’m sorry. I promised I would protect you and I failed.” Yaz pulled away and looked earnestly into the Doctor’s eyes.

“You warned us it would be dangerous. You never promised me-”

“I promised myself.” The Doctor interrupted. “And I’m promising you now, Yasmin Khan. I will keep you safe.” Even as she said the words, the Doctor knew how deeply she felt them. She knew the danger that they carried, the anger they could fuel. And she knew it was the truth, whether she said it aloud or not. She would always keep Yaz safe.

Yaz broke eye contact first, unable to look at the raw emotion for any longer.

“So how did I, um, wake up again?” Yaz fiddled with the hem of her shirt as she said the next part in barely a whisper. “I remember dying.”

The Doctor’s hearts skipped a beat and she felt the age-old anger brewing in the pit of her stomach. Taking Yaz’s hand in hers, she quashed the anger down. That was for later. Right now, she had to protect Yaz.

“Do you remember how I said we were in a time loop?” Yaz nodded. “It must have reset.”

“What made it reset?” Yaz asked. The Doctor frowned. She had a point.

“Uh, Doc?” Graham’s voice came over the speakers.

“How do you know who I am?” Marza angrily interrupted him. “What’s going on?”

The Doctor’s eyes went wide and her mouth formed an ‘o’.

“Doctor?” Yaz asked.

“We’re stuck in a time loop,” the Doctor said, jumping up excitedly. “And I can feel it, and Marza can feel it, and it hurts because it’s _wrong_. Because time isn’t meant to jump about like this. Not here anyway, I mean, once you’ve crossed the event horizon of a black hole then it’s all over the place, that is a serious head-wonk right there-”

“Doctor!” Yaz brought her back to her original train of thought.

“Don’t you see? We always feel when the loop resets, and it always hurts.” The Doctor paused, looking at Yaz wide-eyed. “It always hurts just after I use the TARDIS. She moves through time and space and all these short hops around the ship are meant to be just through space but when we’re so close to a massive temporal distortion – it’s like a tiny tear in the fabric of space-time. Moving my TARDIS is ripping the edges of the tear and making it bigger. By all rights the fabric should be shredded to pieces right now.”

The TARDIS bonged loudly.

“That’s what the distress signal was. The TARDIS picked up the problem and brought me here to fix it.”

“But you just said the TARDIS is the problem. Using her is making the hole bigger.”

“Yes but she’s not the _original_ problem. Us coming here and jumping around has made the hole bigger, but something had to make the hole in the first place.”

“Could it be the wiring thing you were talking about?” Graham chipped in.

“No the wiring problem should mean that the engines don’t work at all. Marza’s done some amazing work to fix it but if the engine creates any rips in space-time then they’re small enough that they’ll just close up again. I’m looking for something that would affect the engines in a way that wasn’t…planned.”

“The explosion!” Graham, Ryan and Yaz cried out at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I said I'd fix it.
> 
> We're nearing the end here, maybe 3 or 4 chapters left...plot bunnies are starting to circle for the next episode, Relative Dimensions woop woop! Although I'm actually planning to have a small one-shot just before it so that'll be fun. It's almost finished but it really needs this story to be finished to explain it so it'll have to wait for me to finish this first.
> 
> Comments and kudos feed me.


	13. Chapter 13

“Marza, I need you to trust me. I’m going to the engines to fix them.” The Doctor called up to the speakers.

“But they don’t need fixing,” Marza replied.

“They will do,” the Doctor said grimly. She paused and looked at Yaz. “I need to do this alone. It’s too dangerous for anyone else.”

“I want to come with you.” Yaz said without thinking.

“Please, Yaz, I’m trying to keep you safe.” Yaz responded by linking her hand with the Doctor’s.

“Whatever happens, we’re doing it together.” The Doctor looked at their intertwined fingers and swallowed hard, trying to keep her emotions at bay. They were far too complicated to think about right now.

“Marza?” She called again.

“She’s, uh, not available right now.” Ryan’s voice came back, evidently uncomfortable. “She’s having another headache.”

“I need to get to engine block two, can you guide us there?” Faint shouting could be heard over the speakers, then Marza’s voice came back on, sounding a lot worse for wear.

“It’s a- ugh – long way from where you are. It’d be easier for me to- to get there.” The Doctor shook her head.

“This isn’t something you can fix Marza, I’m sorry.”

“I know those engines better than anyone.”

“But I know what’s going to happen.” The Doctor sighed. “Can you get us there? Please?”

“Fine,” Marza grunted in pain. “Go through the party hall, head for the doors directly opposite you when you go in.”

“Thank you,” the Doctor said. Yaz still hadn’t let go of her hand, and she could feel the warmth radiating from it. She looked at Yaz and gave her what she hoped was a reassuring grin. “Ready?”

Yaz nodded and the two went through the double doors into the large room where the party was. The Doctor saw Lady Tabitha heading towards them and quickly dodged behind a waiter.

“Don’t have time right now,” she muttered, much to the amusement of the waiter. Once Tabitha had been successfully avoided, the Doctor darted forwards, the doors ahead tantalisingly close.

Nothing was easy for the Doctor. Things hardly ever went her way of their own accord. To get anything half-way decent to happen she had to push and pull and plead and bargain with whatever forces of the universe she could find. Thinking back on it, the muffled bang seemed almost inevitable. Yet somehow, despite how obvious it was in hindsight, it still took her by surprise.

The floor tilted violently to one side and Yaz lost her footing. The Doctor tried to catch her but ended up tripping over and landing on the floor beside her. She could hear her heartbeats loudly in her ears, almost drowning out the shouts and screams of the room around her. She had to think. How could she get them out of this?

A stifled groan came from next to her and she was torn from her thoughts. Yaz was sitting up, clutching at her ankle.

“Twisted it,” she said apologetically. Her ankle was already swelling up so the Doctor hurriedly undid the laces on Yaz’s trainer and gently pulled the shoe off. Yaz hissed as the Doctor carefully prodded to see how bad the damage was.

“You won’t be able to walk on that. You need to stay here.”

“If this is you trying to get rid of me,” Yaz said. The Doctor cut her off with a look so intense she forgot how to look away.

“I never want to get rid of you, Yaz.” The Doctor stood slowly, looking around her to find a clear path to the doors.

“DOCTOR!” Yaz suddenly yelled. She’d remembered about the chandelier; the one that was currently falling from the ceiling. The one heading straight for the Doctor’s head. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Yaz launched herself at the Doctor in an awkward tackle, hitting her in the stomach and rolling the two of them away from the impact.

“Yaz,” the Doctor said breathlessly, making Yaz feel tingly in places that she really shouldn’t be thinking about right now. Then she frowned. “You’re bleeding.” She swept a thumb across Yaz’s forehead and pulled it away smeared with blood.

“So are you,” Yaz mirrored the motion. The Doctor smiled.

“Let’s get out of here.” The Doctor jumped up, wobbled slightly, then bent down towards Yaz again. Before Yaz had a chance to react, she felt arms slide beneath her and she was lifted upwards. The Doctor’s face was twisted in a grimace. “Nope, definitely used to be stronger.” She remarked in a tight voice. “This isn’t going to be big on dignity.” The Doctor hefted Yaz up and twisted her so that she was lying over one shoulder, fireman’s-lift style.

“What-” Yaz started as her head flew towards the floor. Her ankle twinged painfully as the Doctor caught the backs of her legs and started running through the crowd.

Despite her scatter-brained child nature, the Doctor was remarkably nimble on her feet, carefully spinning round obstacles so that Yaz wasn’t hit once. Yaz lost all sense of direction and only realised where they’d been going when the scenery changed from corridor to the glowing crystals of the TARDIS.

“This is the wrong way,” Yaz mumbled against the Doctor’s back.

“Change of plan,” The Doctor replied before kneeling and carefully depositing Yaz on the ground, making sure that she was comfortable leaning against a pillar. Yaz tried to stand up but between her ankle and being dizzy from the spinning across the room, she quickly toppled over. The Doctor caught her and set her back down again before running to the console and zapping it with her sonic.

“Graham? Ryan? Marza? Can you hear me?” She called out. There was a loud _ping_ then Graham’s voice came through loud and clear.

“Ah, give us a warning before you do that again, Doc?”

“I need to get to the engines before the explosion,” the Doctor started.

“But it’s happened,” Marza called out, panic evident in her voice. Faint shouts could be heard once more behind her.

“I’m going to use the TARDIS, it’s going to reset the loop to before the explosion. The time we reset to before the explosion is getting shorter each time so I don’t know how long I’ll have to fix it, but I don’t think this ship will survive many more loops. The TARDIS scanner is telling me you’ve got severe structural damage along the spine and the navigational engine is all but blown out.” She paused and took a breath. “I’ve only got one shot at this.”

“Be careful,” Ryan said. The Doctor smiled.

“I’m always careful Ryan.”

“No really, take care of yourself, Doc. Make sure you come back in one piece.” Graham joined in.

“I need you two to do something for me,” the Doctor’s hands started flying around the controls, pushing and pulling at various buttons and dials. “I need you to take care of Marza. You need to make sure she doesn’t come down to the engines, or send anyone else down. All the engines are off limits, understand?”

“Got it.” The Doctor flicked a switch and there was a crackle of static, then silence. She looked over at Yaz.

“Ready? Hold tight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crumbs it's been a while since I've updated! Been through a lot recently but now I've found my muse again and I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing/updating regularly.  
> Can't believe I've nearly come to the end of another fic! The next in this series is called Relative Dimensions, I think I put a taster up a few months ago, but the full plot for that is pretty much mapped out now so that should be up and running by the time I've finished this one.  
> *cue grovelling for kudos and comments*

**Author's Note:**

> so, new fic, new storyline...let's see if I can make this as good as Spiders from Egypt!  
> Quick note about the curry sauce and chips thing. Yes, it's a thing. It's a Northern thing and it's disgusting. I've never felt more alien in my life than when I tried it. Bleuch.


End file.
